Williams FW31 & Renault R28

Renault and Williams both gave their 2009 cars their first public outings on Monday morning at the start of this week’s multi-team test session at the Algarve Motor Park circuit in Portugal.

The Renault R28 was presented to the press by drivers Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet, along with team boss Flavio Briatore, while Williams tester Nico Hulkenberg starred with the FW31, running in an interim testing livery. The team’s 2009 race livery will be revealed prior to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March.

Both cars will be testing alongside those of rival teams McLaren, Toyota and Toro Rosso. McLaren track debuted the new MP4-24 at the Portimao circuit on Saturday following its UK launch last Friday, and Toyota ran their new TF109 for the first time at the Portimao venue on Sunday.

Testing continues in Portugal until Thursday. In neighbouring Spain, BMW Sauber will launch their new F1.09 – and start testing it – at Valencia on Tuesday.